13A - Reading Reflection No. 1

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I read Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc.

1. What surprised me the most in this text was that McDonald’s was originally a business run by brothers specializing in fast-delivery and was then scaled by an outside entrepreneur. I admired Kroc’s titular skill: the ability to “grind it out.” I did not particularly like that Kroc merely scaled someone else’s business rather than built his own…. It was a smart decision of him and a respectable business move, but I would have admired an entirely self-made story more. When Kroc was forced to part with 60% of the profits from his deal with the Multimixer manufacturer, he struggled to make a living and “grinded it out” until the contact was up, at which point he went on the endeavor with the McDonald brothers.

2. Kroc is brilliant at recognizing opportunities. Not only did he identify a great product in the Multimixer and think that McDonald’s was a great investment, early on in his career, he even noted a trend towards disposable cups in the U.S. Kroc was also exceptional at stress management and merely “grinded out” the tough times.

3. At first, I found Kroc’s connection with the McDonald’s franchise confusing, until I learned that his encouraging the McDonald brothers to expand was so that he could sell more Multimixers
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4.
  • What keyed you in that McDonald’s was an investment and did you think it was even nationally scalable at the time?
  • Why has McDonald’s been the most successful fast food chain?

5. Kroc appears to believe that one should do what’s necessary to succeed (implied by is 19-hour workdays and low income before the days of the McDonald’s franchise). I agree that hard work is important, but I would say that I believe more in work-life balance than Kroc does. For example, if 19-hour workdays mean that you are losing time with your family, then your business should take less of your time.

Comments

  1. Remi TaylorOctober 13, 2019 at 8:45 PM

    Hi there Johnathan! Really great job with this blog post. I did mine on Elon Musk, so I did not know much about Ray Kroc before. I didn't even know he was involved with McDonald's! I think that the two questions you would ask him are very interesting and great questions. Also, 19 hour work days are definitely too long!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Daryl SutherlandOctober 14, 2019 at 10:33 AM

    Hi Jonathan,
    I still don't understand how he got away with all of this. He basically just grew the brothers idea and did not give them recognition. I also do not understand how McDonalds is still around. You would think the government or society would say what Kroc did was frown upon. If I was in charge I would have given the business to the original idea, the idea created by the brothers. It looks as if we are funding stealing other people's business ideas.

    ReplyDelete

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